This blog discusses current weather, weather prediction, climate issues, and other topics

Friday, December 20, 2013

Snowing over the Region

Light snow is now falling over the Washington interior, with rain on the coast. At 6 AM snow totals (based mainly from pictures and cams) seem to be roughly from .5 to 1 inch....perhaps some of you can send in totals as comments.

The latest radar image shows light precipitation over the entire region and you can see the back edge of the frontal precipitation reaching the far NW coast (this is why you need the coastal radar!)

Our radars are dual polarized, which means they can determine precipitation type. Here is the precip type for what the lowest beam of the radar at Camano Is. is seeing: light blue--which means dry snow.

What about temperatures aloft? The latest data at 6 AM show it is plenty cold enough for snow and clearly will remain so for several more hours.

Based on the radar, looks we have several hours more of snow over the western interior.

Help The Seattle School District Pick Better Math Textbooks for K-5

Most Seattle elementary schools are using very poor math textbooks: Everyday Math.
FINALLY, the district is replacing them and you can help ensure that
decent books are selected. For the next few weeks the finalist books
will be available at the Seattle Schools HQ and you can peruse them and
provide comments. Here
is more information on this opportunity. With information form
concerned citizens and parents, a math committee will make
recommendations to the district.

Seattle
is looking at 8 different programs. I'm familiar with two of them:
Math In Focus: Singapore Math, and enVision.
Of these two, the Singapore program is far superior in how the math
content is developed for the kids, and the clarity of the program for
teachers and families. Math In Focus was
adopted two years ago by Highline School District, which has been
increasing their math achievement scores relative to the state ever
since. enVision is
not a terrible program, but it doesn't have the same focus and teaching
to mastery as the Singapore program. It's like a slightly enhanced
version of Everyday Math, which is now confusing Seattle kids on a daily
basis. We don't need any more of that. Take a look at the books
online, or in person at the John Stanford Center. The top three
finalists will be displayed at 5 schools around the Seattle area for
detailed review in March of 2014. The final selection will be in
classrooms by fall of
2014.

1/2" on Bainbridge Island about a mile north of the ferry landing. Looks to be about it for us. Snow has stopped and from the radar it looks like upper-level flow has shifted to westerly which puts is squarely in the Olympic rain (in this case snow) shadow.

At least I got something out of this event, instead of it being a total disappointment.

1 1/2 inches of wet slippery snowin Issaquah Highlands and still coming down steady. It's very treacherous on these hills and I've watched four-wheel drive vehicles struggle (more like spin out) attempting to get up and down the steep hill I live on. Forget the front wheel drivers, those can't even make it halfway up or down without losing control so it's a practice in futility. I'm sick anyway and haven't slept all night so staying home seems like the best choice. The commute is going to be a mess for anyone who attempts to travel whether it be by foot, car, or bus.

Thanks for being so awesome Cliff and doing what you do best! You're the one person I can count on to nail the forecasts every time!

Several inches in north Whatcom County, outside Lynden. Snow started around 1:00 am and it's still coming down lightly at 9:00 am. Countryside looks so lovely ~ we can hardly bear to think this will only last a few hours!

It's 32.6F here in East Bellevue (just west of Lake Sammamish and about 80' above the lake height) and it's snow with some sleet/rain mixed in, actually coming down pretty hard now. I'd say we ended up with an inch of snow. I'm hoping it melts in the next hour... it was pretty and the kids had fun but I need to get in to the office to complete a software release.I consider this forecast a triumph of science and really appreciate you sharing the finer details and judgment calls with us.

1" East Renton Highlands. Very dense inch. Untreated streets still are compact snow and getting the melting slippery glaze. Some sleet pellets just before ending. Nice work trusting the right models. I had my doubts with light S flow and 850 temps well warmer than -8 which was an old rule of thumb. Success!

Awesome, about 4 hours of actual winter in 2 years! And we're talking a few inches in the spots that got "a lot". Ha, ha, no good Winter. I'm calling you out as a wimp until you prove otherwise. I don't think you have it in you... ;)

Just a dusting this morning in the Portland/Vancouver area.Singapore Math would be great. Awesome, in fact. But, they won't pick it. They won't pick it because it takes teachers too long to get trained for it and the teachers themselves don't want to learn this superior way of doing math and everyone gets frustrated and caves in two years because it is a commitment. I've seen it happen in other districts and it is sad, really. If elementary teachers just knew a bit more math than they do now, and if they would be willing to give it a shot for 5 years, our kids would show gains on the tests and everyone would buy in to the program. I really hope they get Singapore Math because that might mean the we get it down here and that would make my job as a middle school math teacher so much better.

Dr. Mass, are there any empirical studies that indicate which of these various programs are most effective at teaching math to various constituencies (not that I don't trust the rantings of a curmudgeonly meteorologist)? It seems like madness to choose a text and a program based upon comments from the lay public who are given a chance to thumb through a few random textbooks. Is that how YOU choose the texts for your classroom? Invite public comment and go with the majority? I want to see data from acknowledged experts in the field of math education. I by experts I mean mathematicians who study math education. Not D.Ed.s who "study" math.

1" East Renton Highlands. Very close inch. Untreated streets still are bunched snow and accepting the melting glace glaze. Some barrage pellets just afore ending. Nice plan dupe the appropriate models. I had my doubts with ablaze S breeze and 850 temps able-bodied warmer than -8 which was an old aphorism of thumb. Success!mensagens para celular